Telegraphic register



UNITEDn STATES 'PATENT QFFICE.

`iranianiaromi, OFELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY,

lsrnor'rIcA'rIolv forming pere efrlettereretenelve. 267,929, datedNovember 21, 1862'.

. inppiieeuen med Februaryv 11,1881. (Nemedei.)

To allwhom tt may concern: l

Beit known that I, FRANK L. POPE, a citizen of the United. States,residing at Elizabeth, in the county ot'LUnionand State of New Jersey,have invented certain newand useful Im# provements in TelegraphicRegisters, of which'.

the following is aspecication.

. My invention relates to the apparatus which is employed to recordthecharacters of the'- .Morse telegraphic alphabetwhen transmitted over theline from al distant station,and which is technically termed atelegraphic register.

Prior to the datefof my invention the most usual construction of thisapparatus consisted of an electro-magnet,armature, armature-lever, andretracting-sprin g, the long arm of said lever being provided with anadjustable steel point orstylus, soV arranged with reference to a stripof papercarried past it on a .grooved roller moved by clock-work thatwhen the electromagnetattracted its armature the stylus would be broughtforcibly into contact with the moying strip of paper, pressing the `sameinto the grooved roller, and thereby embossing a continuous raised lineupon the upper surface of the paper so long as the latter continued tomove and the electromagnet to attract its armature. An objectionincident to this organization arises from the circumstance that aconsiderable degree of force must be exerted by the electro-magnet inorder to emboss the paper, necessarily involving the use of a speciallocal battery, which must be controlled by a relay placed in the maincircuit, thus adding considerably to the complication and expense of theapparatus necessary at each station. Another objection is that therembossed characters are difficult to read eX- cept by the aid of astrong light, which must also be projected transversely across thepaper. Many attempts have heretofore been made to construct an apparatusfor recording the characters in ink, thus avoiding both of thebefore-mentioned objections; but the difficulties in the way of securinga uniform flow of ink at all times and in protecting the same .from dustand evaporation have been such as to prevent the general use of suchapparatus.

My invention avoids the hereinbefore-mentioned objections and enables meto construct a recording apparatus which requires for its successfuloperation electromagnetic power `not greater than `that ofthe relay,which has ter, and effects the marking by mechanism which prevents anyflow ofink to the paper, except at such times and in such quantitiesasarefnecessary to produce the required result, whilethe remainder ofthe ink is stored in an air-tight` reservoir andeectually protected fromdust and evaporation.

The principal feature ofxmy invention` consists in the combination, withthe electro-magnet, armature, and armature-lever,ofa platen orpaper-guide, a strip of` papermovable by clock-work, and a fountain-penof the general construction known as a y stylographic pen,7 `whichconsists of a marking-point centrally perforated with an ink-duct, avalve which serves to control the iiow of ink through said duct, andhaving a needle or spindle secured thereto, tting loosely within saidink-duct, whereby the flow of ink is controlled and regulatedthrough themechanical action of the electro-magnet upon the spindle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation ot' atelegraphic register embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofa portion of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the marking-pointandpaperguide, showing their `arrangement with reference to each other;and Fig. 4 is a vertical central section of the fountain-pen or markingapparatus.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents a hollow base, upon which the severalparts of the in strument are mounted.

B is a metallic bed-plate, which is secured to the base A in anyconvenient manner, and formsa support for the hollow metallic case Thecase C incloses a'system ot' clockwork of the usual construction, drivenby a weight or spring, the function of which, when released, is to causea roller, D, to revolve at auniform rate of speed in the directionlindicated by the arrow. `This apparatus is common to all telegraphicregisters, and, being well known, does not require more particulardescription here. A

E is an electro-magnet of the usual construction, which is fixed uponand supported ICO by a exible and resilient bar, F. One end of thi'sbaris firmly secured to the bed-plate B by means of screwsff or otherwise,while its other or free vend bears against the end of an adjustableset-screw, C, which passes through the bed-plate B. By means of thisscrew the free endv of the bar F may be forced down or allowed to riseby its own resiliency, and thus the. electro-magnet E may be lowered orraised at will, in order to regulate its distance from its armature H.The armature H is carried by a horizontal metallic lever, h, which ispivoted at H to a bracket or other similar support attached to the caseC containing the clock-work. The vertical movement of the armature-leverh may be limited by adjustable set-screws and i', the former beingmounted upon an arm projecting from the standard I and the other uponthe lever itself. The retractile spring J is attached to thearmature-lever h, and its tension is adjustable to suit thevaryingstrength of the linecurrent by means of a screw, j, xed upon a bracket,J', projecting from the case C. A flexible metallic arm, K, is affixedto the-lever h by means of a'fixed screw, k, and an adj ustable screw,7c', while its extremity is bent upward and carries a paper-guide, L,the con- .struction of which is best seen in Figs. 3 and 4.`

It is preferably formed of athin piece of metal, which is formed into aplaten upon which the strip of paper rests, and has its two ends turnedover, as shown at l l, leaving an opening on the upper side, withinwhich the writing-point, hereinafter to be described, is

brought into contact with the paper.

The apparatus for moving the paper consists of the roller D,hereinbefore referred to,

which is capable of being made to revolve at aI uniform rate by theaction of the clock-work. M is a strip or fillet of paper, which may betaken from a continuous roll, and is made to pass first around the pin mand thence through the guide L over the roller D and along the platformm. Upon the roller D rests a jockeywheel, N, which is mounted upon anarm, a,

j and is made to press firmly upon the strip ot' paper by. means of aspring-arm, a', and an adjustable screw, N, as shown in Fig. l. Thejockey-roller may be lifted from contact with .i the paper, whenrequired, by means of a lever,

O, provided for that purpose.

The interior construction of the fountain-pen will ybe bestunderstood byreference to Fig. 4. 1t consists of a reservoir, R, preferablyof aspherical or ovoid form, communicating internally with a tube, r, whichterminates in a marking-point,P. Themarking-pointPiscentrally perforatedwith an ink-duct, 19, the upper portion of which isenlarged, so as toform a seat for a conical valve, V, which regulates and controls theflow of ink through the duct p. The valve V has attached to it a spindleor needle, u, of smaller diameter than the inkduct p, and tted looselywithin it, as shown in the figure. When the valve Vis in its seat thelower end of the spindle c projects alittle below the marking-point P;but when the paper M is raised by the action of the electroinagnet, soas to come in contact with the marking-point, the spindleis pushedupward and the valve raised, thus permitting the ink contained in thereservoir R to ow through the ink-duct to the paper, provided thepressure of thc atmosphere is admitted to act upon the ink inl thereservoir.

Inasmuch as the electro-magnet causes its armature tomove in response toall signals transmitted through theline, whether intended for thestation where the record is to be made, or for some other station, it isobvious that the armature-lever will act upon the spindle and lift thevalveat every signal, whether a record is designed to be made or not. Itis therefore desirable to provide means to prevent the ow of ink throughthe marking-point to the paper from taking place except when acommunication is to be recorded. This may be most conveniently effectedby an automatic device, which will now be described.

Referring to Fig. 4, the top of the ink-reservoir R is closed by a cap,S, which is screwed over an opening in the top of the reservoir, asshown, in such a manner that lit maybe re moved for the purpose ofsupplying the reservoir with ink when required. The cap Sis airtight,with the exception of a small aperture, t, which is ordinarily closedbyavalve, T, preferably of india-rubber or other elastic andcompressible material. So long as the opening at t is thus closed itwill be'impossible for the ink vto flow from the marking-point, even ifthe valve V be raised from its seat. When a communication is to berecorded by the apparatus the train of clock-Work which causes the paperto move is released by turning the milled head W, which withdraws thedetent from the clock-work in a manner well understood.

Attached to the milled head W is a projecting arm, w, to which ispivoted a wire or light rod, fw', and the latter is attached to thevalve T in the manner shown in Figs. l and 4. Con-- sequently wheneverthe clock-work is started the valve T is simultaneously lifted from theICO IOS

IIO

aperture t and air is admitted into the reservoir R, passing downthrough the air-tube s, attached to the cap, and through openings s' inthe lower end thereof, and the ink, upon the opening of the valve V,tlows down through the ink-duct o to the paper M.

The construction of theguide L is such that the paper is carried with apositive motion both to and from the marking-point, and thus thepossibility of the slack of the paper permitting it to rest against themarking-point between the successive signals is prevented.

In order to prevent the blurring or obliterationof the characters asthey pass from the point of the pen, the jockey-wheelNis so placed thatit runs on the rear margin of the strip of paper. Consequently thecharacters pass in front of mit and can be seen `distinctly at al1 timesafter having been traced by the pen.

When-the apparatus is used in a main cir cuit Without a relay or localbattery, as Will 5 usually be the case, the distance between theelectro-magnet and its armature may be adjusted to suit the varyingcondition of the line by raising and lowering the electro-magnet bymeans ofthe set-screw G, as hereinbefore exro plained.

I claimas my inventionp `1. The combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, of an electro-magnet, armature, andarmature-lever, a platen or paper- 15 guide, a fillet of paper movableacross said platen, a marking-point `centrally perforated with anink-duct, a valve for controlling the flow of ink through said duct, anda needle or spindle secured to said valve and iittin g loosely 2o withinsaid duct, to which a to-and-fro movement is communicated inthedirection of its length through'saidplaten or paper-guide.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of anelectro-magnet, armature, and armature-lever, a platen or paper- 25guide, a fillet of paper movable acrosssaid platen, a tubularmarking-point, a normallyclosed air-tight ink-reservoir, communicating'internally with said marking-point, a valve for admitting external'airinto said reservoir, and a mechanical connection from said valve to thehandle for starting,` and stopping the mechanism whereby said fillet ismoved.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 16th day ot'February, 35 1881.

FRANK L. POPE. Witnesses:

MILLER C. EARL, Mrs. K. LooKWooD FRENCH.

